Monday, December 10, 2018

Home Entertainment Review: Leprechaun Returns

Back in 1993 Warwick Davis brought horror fans an all-new horror icon with the Leprechaun. Since its debut it has spawned 5 sequels all starring Davis as well as a reboot with WWE star Hornswoggle taking on the title role. Believe it or not, throughout all the films they were not necessarily the same Leprechaun character despite Davis playing them, but the original version of the character is back in the latest chapter aptly titled Leprechaun: Returns with Lindon Porco taking on the Leprechaun role. Could this direct sequel offer something new that brings the franchise back to its roots or will it not be worth a pot of gold?

Leprechaun: Returns follows the deadly, wisecracking Leprechaun is back in all his gory glory. When the sorority sisters of the Alpha Upsilon house decide to go green and use an old well as their water source, they unwittingly awaken a pint-sized, green-clad monster. The Leprechaun wants a pot of gold buried near the sorority house, but first he must recover his powers with a killing spree—and only the girls of AU can stop him. As silly as this franchise is I love every one of them for various reasons. No one will ever replace the awesomeness of Warwick Davis in the role, but when WWE star Hornswoggle took on the role in the previous entry he brought a great edge to the role. This new chapter is a direct sequel to the original 1993 film ignoring all the sequels previously.

The story is pretty simple and not only continues the story but brings back one its original stars, Mark Holton, reprising his role as Ozzie. This does a good job at bridging the two films and the use of Taylor Spreitler as the daughter of Jennifer Aniston’s character from the original film. Sadly, Aniston does not return although I heard there was some talk of trying to make it happen. The cast are all fine, but I cannot lie most of them outside of Spreitler were pretty annoying. This is no doubt by design in the genre to make their deaths all the more enjoyable.

The biggest thing for this film to work in any form is the Leprechaun himself and while I still miss Davis in the role Porco does a good job making it his own. There are some great and creative kills that will no doubt please all the gore hounds out there. While most of the kills and effects are great there are a couple of CGI moments that don’t work all that great. In the end this is a fun new chapter that I had a blast with thanks to the great bloody kills and some fun moments with the leprechaun himself.

If you are a fan of the franchise then check out Leprechaun Returns when it hits Digital and On Demand on December 11th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Review by Bobby Blakey - Bobby reviews way more movies on his own website than the genre-specific ones I post here. Check out Bobby's awesome website and his live show he co-hosts with his wife, Drusilla, at Hollywood Matrimony.